We are excited to announce that after an amazing festival last year, Other Worlds Austin will be returning to Flix Brewhouse for Year Four, December 7-10, 2017 (that’s Thursday to Sunday). I know that’s way in the future, but you already know you are seeing Star Wars Ep 8 on the 15th, right? So remember this as the week before. Badges will go on sale to the general public in August but will be available at events prior to that at a reduced cost. If you bought a badge last year, you will also be receiving a limited presale offer very soon (just like last year).

Last year’s festival saw our first Defender of the Universe Award winner, Sybil Danning, a retro screening of Dark Star with lead actor Brian Narelle in attendance, the world premiere of Nathaniel Atcheson’s DOMAIN starring Ryan Merriman, standing room only shorts programs and too many parties to mention.

We can also announce that the Other Worlds Orbiter Year Round Screening Series will return to Flix as well, with monthly screenings begining in April, this year on Wednesdays. In addition, we will do our annual May the Fourth Fan Films Screening on (you guessed it), May the 4th, at 4th Tap, with specialty themed beers and food and films and Star Wars memorabilia.

And of course, if you are a filmmaker, submissions are open! The past three years have seen OWA rise up as an important launching pad for Science Fiction filmmaking in the US, with a dozen World and North American premieres under its belt, along with countless visiting filmmakers. 2016 also saw the debut of Under Worlds Austin, the Horror sidebar that plays on the same weekend and as part of Other Worlds Austin, bringing the best in fresh Horror to Austin. The film competition is open to Features, Shorts, and Fan Films in both the SciFi and Horror genre. The Early Deadline for the film competition is April 30th, with prices as low as $30. Don’t miss a chance to screen your film in the “Geek Capital of the World!”

As part of its ongoing mission to encourage work in Science Fiction, Other Worlds Austin held its second annual SciFi Screenwriting Contest last year. Sponsored by No BullScript Consulting, the competition received scripts from all over the country. Excited to award creativity in its earliest stages and encourage writers to keep working in the genre, OWA is thrilled to announce the Grand Prize Winner, short KEYSTROKE by Tom Sanchez Prunier. “Other Worlds Austin is so proud to be supporting the next generation of SciFi storytellers,” says Bears Fonté, OWA Founder and Artistic Director, “our festival was founded on the idea of story over special effects and when you look at a screenplay, what’s on the page is all you see."

In KEYSTROKE, Two roommates clean up their new apartment after the previous tenant – a hoarder – and find a computer with a journal of all history that they can edit in any way they please. “With KEYSTROKE, Tom Sanchez Prunier paints an entertaining picture of a Sci-Fi world we desire yet should fear,” says Don Elfant, Director of Marketing and Development, who oversaw the finalists for the second year of the competition, “one in which the change of a single keystroke can change history, for better or worse and with extremely unintended consequences.”

We may see KEYSTROKE sooner rather than later because when we informed Prunier of his victory, he let us know that he went into production on the the film last October. The other category winners were Teleplay PRETERNATURAL by Joe Acton and Screenplay Feature DREAM MACHINE by Aaron B. Koontz, Farrell Rose & Cameron Burns.

"Our finalists were all very strong,” says Fonté, “our winning scripts are packed with world-building and creative ideas and I am excited to see these winners start their journey into becoming fully realized on screens. We are proud to add these writers to our Other Worlds Alumni.”

Screenplay Short:

KEYSTROKE by Tom Sanchez Prunier

Two roommates clean up their new apartment after the previous tenant – a hoarder – and find a computer with a journal of all history that they can edit in any way they please.

Teleplay:

PRETERNATURAL: FLIGHT OF THE GODWITS by Joe Acton

When a migratory flock of birds carries a deadly species-jumping virus from Asia to North America, humans and animals must work together using their inherent knowledge and skills to conquer the virus that is killing them all.

Screenplay Feature:

DREAM MACHINE
by Aaron B. Koontz, Farrell Rose &Cameron Burns

In an attempt to fix his debilitating sleep paralysis, reclusive inventor Miles Decker has developed a machine that allows one to control their dreams. As a new relationship ensues, his dependency on this DREAM MACHINE begins a violent downward spiral blurring the lines of reality and sanity.

"Mr. Sanchez Prunier sets up an entirely relatable world, turns it upside down, and then delivers on an uncompromising conclusion,” remarks Elfant. As the Grand Prize winner, Tom Sanchez Prunier (KEYSTROKE) receives a $500 cash prize. Joe Acton (PRETERNATURAL) and Aaron B. Koontz, Farrell Rose & Cameron Burns (DREAM MACHINE) each receive a $250 cash prize for winning the Teleplay and Screenplay Feature categories respectively. All three winners also receive a Development Notes Phone Consultation with Danny Manus of No BullScript Consulting, a top 15 script consultant according to Creative Screenwriting.

Get ready - Other Worlds Austin SciFi Film Festival will continue its annual Star Wars Day (May the Fourth) tradition of screening a selection of stellar fan films at a local brewery. This year, we're so proud to be partnering with 4th Tap Brewing Cooperative! They'll be brewing up some special beers just for us (a dark and a light, so prepare to pick your side...)

By Taylor Covington — In honor of OWA's Orbiter screening of ASTRAEA (now available on VOD), the team put together the top "the apocalypse came and we're all that's left" films and TV episodes to remind everyone society is good, total isolation is bad, and to be thankful the Zika virus hasn't mutated just yet.

NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST: TEENAGERS & THE APOCALYPSE

By Jordan Brown — Roxy Shih's #OtherWorlds2016 award winning THE TRIBE is now available on VOD — Associate Artistic Director Jordan Brown looks at exploring the "post-apocalyptic wasteland" setting with a new type of hero (antihero?): the teenage girl.

SCIFI VS. HORROR VS. FANTASY VS. ROMCOM: CROSS GENRE STORIES

By Bears Fonte — Our need to classify things is a fundamental trait of human development. Ever since scrolls were first written, people began dividing groups of things into smaller groups of things. There is even a science for it, Taxonomy, the science of classification. Aristotle began this process with literature, dividing theatrical work into Drama and Comedy in Poetics.